The child was pulled out by Gurinder Singh, a resident of Mangowal village. (Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh/File)

Residents of Bhagwanpura village in Punjab held protests and blocked the Sunam-Bathinda road in Sangrur district Tuesday following the death of two-year-old Fatehveer Singh, who had been stuck in a borewell for 109 hours. The protests were over the district administration and state government’s delay in rescuing Singh.

The infant’s family questioned the administration over its methods used during the rescue operation.

The child was pulled out by Gurinder Singh, a resident of Mangowal village. Gurinder told media persons, "I do work of motor digging and I came on day one. I had even offered to pull the baby out in an hour, but I was not allowed to carry out this operation. Finally, they asked me on Tuesday morning and I did it within 15 minutes."

However, it has been stated that the rope was tied around the stomach of the baby and later Singh was pulled out after fixing a hook with the rope and some part of it may have hurt the child as well.

Fatehveer’s uncle told The Indian Express, "We could have hired men and would have gotten the child out as we had no dearth of finances, but we believed in the administration. However, they followed this merciless way and kept us in dark for the past five days. We demand an inquiry in this case and action against the DC and SSP Sangrur."

Around 10 am Tuesday, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh in a tweet said," Very sad to hear about the tragic death of young Fatehveer. I pray that Waheguru grants his family the strength to bear this huge loss. Have sought reports from all DCs regarding any open bore well so that such terrible accidents can be prevented in future."